JP4995678B2 - Audio / video equipment remote control system, remote control device, integrated circuit for remote control, and remote control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a system for remotely controlling an audio / video device (hereinafter referred to as “AV device”) such as a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as “TV”), a DVD recorder, and a video decoder, and a remote control device (hereinafter referred to as “AV device”). , “Remote control”), an integrated circuit constituting the remote control, and a remote control method.

  Conventionally, remote controllers that control AV devices such as TVs, DVD recorders, and video decoders from a remote location specify the operation of the AV device itself, such as reception channel settings, volume settings, and recording reservation information, and use infrared rays. Thus, unidirectional communication is performed in which control data is transmitted from the remote control to the AV device.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 1 below, a broadcast reception history (reception channel for each past day of the week, reception time zone, etc.) is recorded on the TV side so as not to miss a program that the user is watching regularly. A TV that displays confirmation information and outputs a warning sound is described on the main unit when another channel is selected or the power is not turned on at that time. ing.

JP-A-5-75937

  However, in the TV described in Patent Document 1, confirmation information is displayed on the display unit of the main unit or only a warning sound is output from the sound generator provided in the main unit. There was a problem that it was difficult to communicate to users in different locations.

  The present invention provides an AV device remote control system that can alert a user so as not to miss a program or the like that is regularly viewed by providing a remote control with a bidirectional communication function. It is an object.

The present invention relates to an AV device remote control system comprising an AV device that receives and outputs or records a broadcast signal, and a remote controller that controls the AV device via a wireless network. It is characterized by the construction.

That is, the AV device receives a broadcast receiving unit that receives and outputs or records a current broadcast signal based on a control signal given from a remote controller via a wireless network, and the broadcast signal for each day of the week received in a certain past period. A reception history including a channel and a time zone of a predetermined time interval, a reception history management unit that updates the reception history every predetermined period, and a broadcast program of each broadcasting station from the broadcast signal received in the past The frequency selected in the past for the current day of the week and the time zone based on the program storage unit that acquires and creates and stores the program guide, the reception history, and the program guide stored in the program storage unit an estimation unit for the highest channel estimates with the current received to be channel, when it becomes the start time of the program in the estimated current receiving to be channel, the estimated current Compares the current receive channel reception to be channel and in the audio-video apparatus, a determination unit for generating a reminder signal when they do not match, transmitting the alert signal to the remote control device by the wireless network And a transmission unit . The remote control includes an operation unit that inputs an operation signal for operating the audio / video device, an operation control unit that controls the audio / video device via the wireless network according to the input operation signal, and the audio Output means for receiving the alert signal transmitted from the video device via the wireless network and outputting it as an audible or visible signal.

In the present invention, the reception history including the channel and the time zone of the broadcast signal for each day of the week received in the past fixed period on the AV device side is stored at a predetermined time interval, and the reception history is updated every predetermined period. A history management unit, and a program storage unit that acquires a broadcast program of each broadcasting station from the broadcast signal received in the past, creates a program guide, and stores it, and stores the reception history and the program storage unit Based on the program schedule, the channel with the highest frequency selected in the past is estimated as the channel to be received in the current day of the week and time zone, and when the program start time in the estimated channel is reached the generate alerting signals when the estimated do not match by comparing the current receive channel with the current received to be the channel in the audio video device, the alerting signal radio networks It is to be transmitted to the remote control by the click.

On the other hand, the remote control receives an alert signal transmitted from the AV device via the wireless network in addition to an operation control unit that controls the AV device via the wireless network in accordance with an input from the operation unit, and is visible or audible. It has an output means for outputting as a signal. As a result, even if the remote control is placed in a position that cannot be seen from the AV device , information is used to call attention so that the user will not miss a program that the user is watching regularly. It is possible to output to a remote controller placed near the person .

  The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become more fully apparent when the following description of the preferred embodiment is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are for explanation only, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an AV equipment remote control system showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This AV device remote control system includes, for example, an AV device 10 such as a TV, and a remote controller 20 for operating the AV device 10, and these are connected by a wireless network 30 of IEEE802.15.4 standard. Yes.

The AV device 10 receives a broadcast signal and outputs video and audio. In addition to the TV body 11 serving as a broadcast receiving unit, the AV device 10 includes an antenna 12 and a receiving unit 13 corresponding to a wireless network 30 that receives a control signal from the remote controller 20. have. The receiving unit 13 is connected to a control unit 14 that decodes the received control signal to turn on / off the TV main body 11, set a receiving channel, control the volume, and the like.

  Further, the AV device 10 is provided with a reception history management unit 15, a program guide storage unit 16, a determination unit 17, and a transmission unit 18. The reception history management unit 15 periodically reads the reception channel of the TV main body 11 and stores the reception history including the channel and time zone of the received past broadcast signal. The program guide storage unit 16 stores the program guide received by the TV main body 11.

  Based on the reception history stored in the reception history management unit 15 and the program guide stored in the program guide storage unit 16, the determination unit 17 periodically uses the AV device 10 during the time zone of the day of the week. The program being viewed is estimated, and it is determined whether or not the currently received channel matches the estimated channel. If a channel different from the estimated channel is received or the power source of the TV main body 11 is turned off, the determination unit 17 outputs a warning signal indicating the state. Note that the alert signal is not output if the estimated channel is received. The transmission unit 18 transmits the alert signal output from the determination unit 17 to the remote controller 20 from the antenna 12 via the wireless network 30.

On the other hand, the remote controller 20 includes an operation unit 21 such as operation keys, an operation control unit 22 that generates a control signal such as power on / off for the AV device 10 based on an operation signal given from the operation unit 21, and the operation control unit 22. The transmission unit 23 that converts the control signal generated in step 1 into a signal corresponding to the wireless network 30 and transmits the signal, and the antenna 24 are provided.

  Further, the remote controller 20 receives a warning signal sent from the AV device 10 via the wireless network 30 and outputs it, a receiving unit 25, an output unit 26, a speaker 27, and a liquid crystal display unit (hereinafter, “ 28 ”(referred to as“ LCD ”).

  The output unit 26 drives the speaker 27 and the LCD 28 based on the attention calling signal received by the receiving unit 25, and alerts the user with a voice or a warning sound from the speaker 27 and calls the attention. The contents are displayed on the LCD 28. The operation control unit 22, the transmission unit 23, the reception unit 25, and the output unit 26 of the remote controller 20 are formed as one integrated circuit.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of channel setting information by the reception history management unit 15 in FIG. Hereinafter, the operation of the AV equipment remote control system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

For example, the user selects a reception channel of the TV main body 11 by pressing an operation key of the operation unit 21 of the remote controller 20. The operation control unit 22 generates a control signal for the TV main body 11 based on a signal from the operation unit 21, and gives the control signal to the transmission unit 23. The transmission unit 23 converts the control signal given from the operation control unit 22 into data conforming to the standard of the wireless network 30 and transmits the data from the antenna 24.

  The antenna 12 of the AV device 10 receives the wireless data transmitted from the remote controller 20 and gives it to the receiving unit 13. The receiving unit 13 demodulates the wireless data into the original control signal and gives it to the control unit 14. The control unit 14 controls the reception channel of the TV main body 11 according to the control signal given from the reception unit 13. Thereby, the reception channel of the TV main body 11 is switched to the channel selected by the user with the remote controller 20. The above operation is the same as that of a conventional remote control system using infrared rays.

  On the other hand, in the AV device 10, the reception history management unit 15 reads the channel received by the TV main body 11 at a constant period (in this case, one minute period) and records it as channel setting information. As shown in FIG. 2, the channel setting information has a table configuration that stores which channel has been set in units of one minute for each day of the week for the past seven days. For example, channel 8 is selected until 18:59 on Friday, and channel 1 is selected from 19:00. The time when the power is turned off is recorded as being in the “OFF” state. When one week has passed, the day and time information is rewritten with the latest information.

  Further, the program guide storage unit 16 acquires the broadcast program of each broadcasting station from the broadcast signal received by the TV main body 11, for example, on a daily basis, and records the program guide.

  The determination unit 17 periodically reads the program table storage unit 16 to extract a program that is approaching the start time, and compares the extracted program with the currently received channel.

  For example, at 16:45 on Thursday, from the program table storage unit 16, program A from 17:00 to 18:00 on channel 1, program B from 17:00 to 17:30 on channel 3, 16 on channel 4 It is assumed that three programs of program C from time 58 to 17:54 are extracted. Further, the determination unit 17 refers to the channel setting information of the reception history management unit 15 and determines the frequency of the frequency selected in the same time period based on the reception history from 16:58 to 18:00 on Thursday one week ago. Determine the highest channel. Then, the determined channel (for example, channel 1) is estimated as the channel that the user desires to view.

  Furthermore, the determination unit 17 checks the reception channel of the TV main body 11 at the time when the start time of the program in the estimated channel is reached (for example, the start time of the program A of the channel 1 is 17:00). At this time, when the power source of the TV main body 11 is turned off or the reception channel of the TV main body 11 is a channel different from the estimated channel, the determination unit 17 is for calling attention to the user. A warning signal is generated and output to the transmitter 18. This alerting signal has, for example, information indicating that “Channel 1 program starts”.

The transmission unit 18 converts the given alert signal into wireless data conforming to the standard of the wireless network 30 and transmits it from the antenna 12.

  The antenna 24 of the remote controller 20 receives the wireless data transmitted from the AV device 10 side and gives it to the receiving unit 25. In the receiving unit 25, the radio data is demodulated into the original alert signal and given to the output unit 26. The output unit 26 drives the speaker 27 and the LCD 28 in accordance with the alert signal given from the receiving unit 25. Thereby, for example, a warning sound (beep sound) is output from the speaker 27, and a display such as “It is the start time of channel 1” is displayed on the LCD 28.

  As described above, the AV device remote control system of this embodiment records the reception history of which channel the user has selected in the past on the AV device side, and the user wishes to view based on this reception history. The channel being estimated is determined, and it is determined whether or not the channel estimated at the reception time of the channel is selected. If the channel is not selected, a warning signal is output from the AV device side to the remote control side. I have to. Especially in home AV equipment, the channels that are normally viewed tend to be fixed according to the day of the week and the time zone. It is likely that this is the desired channel. Therefore, by estimating the channel desired by the user based on the reception history and outputting a warning signal to the remote controller, if there is a remote controller near the user, the possibility of overlooking a program that the user wants to watch can be reduced. There is an advantage that you can.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A various deformation | transformation is possible. Examples of this modification include the following.
(A) The AV device 10 is not limited to the TV, but can be similarly applied to a DVD recorder, a video decoder, or the like.
(B) The standard of the wireless network 30 between the AV device 10 and the remote controller 20 is not limited to IEEE802.15.4.
(C) The alerting output to the remote controller 20 only needs to output at least a warning sound or sound.
(D) The past channel setting information stored in the reception history management unit 15 is not limited to that illustrated. The hit rate can be increased by estimating a desired channel using past information of one week or more. Further, for example, the storage capacity can be reduced by storing in units of 5 minutes.
(E) Although the program start time is managed by the program guide storage unit 16, if no program guide data exists, a warning signal may be output in units of one hour, for example. Alternatively, the reception channel for each time zone of each day of the week may be estimated in advance based on the reception history for one week, and a warning signal may be output based on this.

1 is a configuration diagram of an AV equipment remote control system showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the channel setting information by the reception log | history management part 15 in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 AV apparatus 11 TV main body 12,24 Antenna 13,25 Reception part 14 Control part 15 Reception history management part 16 Program guide storage part 17 Judgment part 18,23 Transmission part 20 Remote control 21 Operation part 22 Operation control part 26 Output part 27 Speaker 28 LCD

Claims (12)

In an audio / video device remote control system comprising an audio / video device that receives and outputs or records a broadcast signal, and a remote control device that controls the audio / video device via a wireless network ,
The audio / video device includes:
A broadcast receiving unit that receives and outputs or records the current broadcast signal based on a control signal given from the remote control device via the wireless network ;
A reception history management unit that stores a reception history including a channel and a time zone of the broadcast signal for each day of the week received in a past fixed period at a predetermined time interval, and a reception history management unit that updates the reception history for each predetermined period ;
A program storage unit that acquires a broadcast program of each broadcast station from the broadcast signal received in the past, creates a program guide, and stores it;
Based on the reception history and the program table stored in the program storage unit, the channel having the highest frequency selected in the past in the current day of the week and the time zone is estimated as the current channel to be received. An estimation unit ;
When the estimated start time of the broadcast program in the current channel to be received is reached, the estimated current channel to be received and the current reception channel in the audio / video device are compared and matched. A determination unit that generates a warning signal when not,
Anda transmission unit that transmits the alert signal to the remote control device by the wireless network,
The remote control device is:
An operation unit for inputting an operation signal for operating the audio-video device;
In accordance with the input operation signal, an operation control unit that controls the audio / video device via the wireless network ;
Output means for receiving the alert signal transmitted from the audio / video device via the wireless network and outputting it as an audible or visible signal ;
An audio / video device remote control system comprising:   2. The audio / video apparatus remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the output means includes a liquid crystal display for outputting the alert signal as a visible signal.   2. The audio / video device remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the output means includes a speaker for outputting the alert signal with sound or warning sound. A broadcast receiving unit that receives and outputs or records a current broadcast signal based on a control signal given through a wireless network, and a reception including a channel and a time zone of the broadcast signal for each day of the week received in a past fixed period. A history is stored at predetermined time intervals, a reception history management unit that updates the reception history at regular intervals, and a program table is created by acquiring broadcast programs of each broadcasting station from the broadcast signals received in the past. Based on the program storage unit stored, the reception history, and the program table stored in the program storage unit, the channel with the highest frequency selected in the past in the current day and time zone is An estimator for estimating the channel to be received, the estimated current channel to be received at the start time of the program in the estimated current channel to be received, and the sound Compared with the current reception channel in the video device, the audio video device having a determination unit that generates a warning signal when they do not match, and a transmission unit that transmits the warning signal through the wireless network, A remote control device controlled by a wireless network,
An operation unit for inputting an operation signal for operating the audio-video device;
In accordance with the input operation signal, an operation control unit that controls the audio / video device via the wireless network;
Output means for receiving the alert signal transmitted from the audio / video device via the wireless network and outputting it as an audible or visible signal;
A remote control device comprising: 5. The remote control device according to claim 4, wherein the output means includes a liquid crystal display for outputting the alert signal as a visible signal . 5. The remote control device according to claim 4 , wherein the output means has a speaker for outputting the alert signal with sound or warning sound . A broadcast receiving unit that receives and outputs or records a current broadcast signal based on a control signal given through a wireless network, and a reception including a channel and a time zone of the broadcast signal for each day of the week received in a past fixed period. A history is stored at predetermined time intervals, a reception history management unit that updates the reception history at regular intervals, and a program table is created by acquiring broadcast programs of each broadcasting station from the broadcast signals received in the past. Based on the program storage unit stored, the reception history, and the program table stored in the program storage unit, the channel with the highest frequency selected in the past is received in the current day of the week and the time zone. An estimation unit that estimates a power channel, and the estimated current channel to be received and the audio / video device at the time when the estimated start time of the program in the current current channel to be received is reached. An audio / video device having a determination unit that generates a reminder signal and a transmitter that transmits the alert signal by the wireless network, and An integrated circuit for remote control used in a remote control device controlled via
An operation unit for inputting an operation signal for operating the audio-video device;
In accordance with the input operation signal, an operation control unit that controls the audio / video device via the wireless network;
Output means for receiving the alert signal transmitted from the audio / video device via the wireless network and outputting it as an audible or visible signal;
An integrated circuit for remote control, comprising: 8. The integrated circuit for remote control according to claim 7, wherein the output means includes a liquid crystal display for outputting the alert signal as a visible signal . 8. The integrated circuit for remote control according to claim 7 , wherein the output means includes a speaker for outputting the alert signal by voice or warning sound . The audio / video device that receives and outputs or records the current broadcast signal has a predetermined reception history including the channel and time zone of the broadcast signal for each day of the week in the past fixed period received based on the control signal from the remote control device A reception history management process for storing the reception history at regular intervals,
A program storage process for acquiring a broadcast program of each broadcasting station from the broadcast signal received in the past, creating a program guide, and storing it, and
Based on the reception history and the program table stored in the program storage unit, an estimation process for estimating a channel having the highest frequency selected in the past as a channel to be received in the current day of the week and the time zone; ,
When the estimated start time of the broadcast program in the current channel to be received is reached, the estimated current channel to be received and the current reception channel in the audio / video device are compared and matched. A transmission process for transmitting a warning signal from the audio / video device to the remote control device via a wireless network when not,
An output process in which the remote control device receives the alert signal transmitted from the audio / video device via the wireless network and outputs it as a visible or audible signal;
The remote control method characterized by performing. The remote control method according to claim 10, wherein the output processing outputs the alert signal as a visible signal to a liquid crystal display . The remote control method according to claim 10 , wherein in the output processing, the alert signal is output as a sound or a warning sound from a speaker .

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